Movies sound great with the DS595. Menus and setup is very easy and straight forward. Appears to be well built. The learning multi-unit remote is quite nice.

Stereo music, bass management, backlighting on remote is lacking. This DD, DTS Onkyo was hopefully going to replace a 10 yr old Nakamichi AV-2 (Pro-Logic) unit. Unfortunately, the Onkyo is not in the same league as the AV-2 for music reproduction. After hooking up the Onkyo to my Boston T930II speakers and Nak CD player, I was very underwhelmed. The sound was not terrible by any means, but compared to the Nak it is a bit muddy and seems to under-produce natural bass. I tried to like it for music, but ended up hooking the Nak back up to the Bostons and WOW! I looove my Nak for music. Looks like I am keeping it for that service alone. See my review on the AV-2 on this site somewhere. The other thing I don't like about the Onkyo is the lack of tone management. This may be the norm these days, but it only has treble and bass knobs on the front. This is the 21st century, why isn't tone adjustable via remote? I also can't find any crossover adjustment for the sub output.

Overall, an incredible unit for the price I paid. For movies, it works very well. It is not the latest 6.1/7.1 technology, but it does a fantastic job with my DVDs. For music, if you are like me and have an extremely discerning ear, this unit will disappoint you.

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi

Build Quality, Power Output, Looks, Menu Setup & Functions, # of inputs, Learning Remote.

(None really) Gets warm at idle,

After owning a Pioneer VSXD508 reciever and knowing people that own sony''s, I decided to buy a mid range, good quality reciever. I bought the GOLD 595. The build quality and power impressed me the most at first, but the sound really inspired me. I have some cheap floorstanders at the moment... But even they sounded heaps better...Good Bass and nice crisp treble. This amp has LOTS of clean, distortion free power. I am looking forward to buying 2 pairs of B&W 601 S3''s. When I have some REAL speakers i will write again... I love this amp, I love the learning remote. 5 Year warranty too!!!

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Pioneer VSX-D510 SONY STRDE675

Sound, design, DPLII, Easy to use

Bass could have been better, Size

After my HIFI system from Sony broke down it was time to buy a new. This time I decieded to buy a receiver. I read some reviews of a sony receiver (don''t remember which model), and decided to buy it. I was not satisfied with this receiver. Not much deep bass of this. So I returned the receiver, and started reading rewiews again. Then I Found this one from Onkyo. I ordered it, and that something I don''t regret. It''s amazing! Mostly of the time I listen to music in DPLII, which is great. The sound is amazing, allthought I still think the bass could be better. Just connect a powerful subwoofer to it.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Receivers

Great sound, ease of use, tons of power, PL2..the list goes on..

No backlit remote...can't program CD player into remote..

I was about to pick up the 575x and heard about this model. Glad I waited. The unit is built like a tank (25 lbs.). It sounds great, even pushing 3 sets of speakers! The Pl2 is pretty cool, it makes watching older 2ch or mono movies fun again. The DTS, well, speaks for itself. I honestly don't think you can find another comparable A/V receiver with all these features for the same price. The only weaknesses are stated above, but still don't dampen my enjoyment. You will not be sorry for getting this one.

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RCA PL1 POS

Power,Clarity,Warmth,etc.

None to speak of

I must say that I was impressed from the second I turned it on!!! Denon was always my choice of receivers in the past, but after reading many reviews on the Onkyo line I thought I would give the 595 a shot. Price was an issue for me so after months of reading reviews and comparing prices the 595 was it. The sound that my B&W speakers put out just blows me away. The review that Jon from Perth wrote I can't understand. He's right about the clarity and as far as the bass goes I believe if you want the extra umph, buy a subwoofer. The bass output is sufficient. The 595 is a wonderful receiver and in my opinion, if not the best, one of the best receivers in its price range.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 1801

Clear Sound, PLII, display dimmer, look

auto reset the speaker setup

At this price it is a steal, the clear sound and the easy set-up are great. I use it combined with the onkyo dv-s535 dvd player and that works great! Both HT and stereo sound are very clear and will stay this way even when I turn the volume to the max!! Note that the 595 has 75 real watts and even 140 real watts at 4 ohm and not like the rest who advertise with the peak power!!!!! It is very well build and has a solid lay-out in-side. You will get Onkyo quality and Onkyo sound. And the remote isn't as bad at all!

Similar Products Used:

yamaha dsp-a5

Good stereo/theatre sound quality & PLII at a decent price

More power, pre-outs & back-lit remote would be nice

(I originally posted this up on the hometheatrespot Onkyo forum a few weeks ago...)

I've had my 595 for about a month now.
So you know where I'm coming from, I would consider myself to be a "budget" audio enthusiast - meaning that I have a musical background, and can appreciate good sound when I hear it, but I also don't have unlimted wads of money to blow on equipment. So I'm in the market for the best price-performance ratio I can afford, with a leaning towards better price, all things being equal. Having said that, I also acknowledge that I don't have the ears to pick the more subtle differences between equipment, unless the differences are gross, or the equipment is "head-to-head" in the same listening room. I also get annoyed when other people audition equipment at stupidly high volume levels, and seem to think that blatent distortion and a pounding headache equates to a pleasurable listening experience.

My listening habit is probably 50-50 b/w music and video - so it was important to me that the amp have decent stereo reproduction. I only did cursory tests of DD/DTS reproduction, as my understanding is that there's very little to pick here b/w receivers at this end of the market.

I was initially going to upgrade my speakers first, but ran into a good "end of financial year" deal on a Sony DB940, which WhatHIFI seems to think v. highly of. I was all set to grab it, but was encouraged to compare it to the Onkyo first. The difference in head-to-head stereo playback was obvious - the Sony had a relative deficit in the clarity of midrange reproduction - making music sound quite "woolly".

Now my "market" had opened up, before I jumped, I thought I'd better compare the Onkyo to the new Yamaha receivers (forget the model number - RX-V620 I think). I was unable to find a dealership that had the Onkyo and the Yamaha side-by-side. My impression, though, was that the Yamaha seemed just as good. So I wouldn't bag the Yamaha at all, and I think I could well have bought it and been just as happy. The main advantage of the Yamaha over the Onkyo was 90W RMS per channel.

I ended up with the Onkyo because of:-
1) PrologicII - I have a lot of digital stereo material, and listen to quite a lot of analogue broadcast stereo. PLII is not a "blow-you-away" feature, but it's not bad at all. In fact, my 595 spends 95% of the time in PLII mode (either "music" or "movie"). It's much superior to the regular DSP modes you'll find, and gives music an added dimension when you sit yourself in the middle of the sound field. The results vary from track to track - some pop/rock tracks are quite superb in PLII (try "The Case of the Ex"/Mya) - I find most classical tracks are not really enhanced though, and tend to stick to regular 2 channel stereo for those.
2) Learning remote - a great idea, but the removal of the backlight (re: 575x) is a pain in the *** and very disappointing
3) I have a medium sized room, and am planning on eventually getting sensitive 6 ohm speakers (91db or better), so the 75 watt limit was not too worrying (although 100 watts would have been nicer, of course)
4) I got a better deal on the Onkyo than I could get for the Yamaha

My current speaker setup is not exactly hifi - basic bookshelf speakers cannabilised from old Aiwa integrated systems. Having said that, the difference between my old (well regarded at the time) Aiwa Pro-Logic system and the Onkyo is quite obvious. The detail and clarify of well recorded stereo source material is significantly better. In fact, I starting hearing recording deficits that initially set me panicking, thinking there was an electrical fault with the Onkyo, but that turned out to be faults in the recordings that I'd simply not noticed before.

My only misgivings are:-
1) with 89db 6ohm "low-fi" speakers, if I want to go "loud" (but not to head-banging levels), I do need to crank up the Onkyo a fair bit - 50/80 - sometimes up to 60. This is uncomfortably close to about 65, at which point some distortion and background hiss starts to become apparent. Compared to other amps, in which one rarely goes beyond 10-11 o'clock on the dial, this seems a bit of a worry. On the other hand, it is difficult to compare the volume levels objectively - it is true that convential volume controls seems to crank out 80% of the volume in the first 50% of the dial - whereas the Onkyo seems to crank out 80% of the volume in the last 50% of the dial. Having said that, though - I think if I already had a really good set of 8ohm speakers I was planning on keeping, and I knew they weren't that sensitive, I would've gone for the Yamaha and its extra 15W per channel (I know that's not much, but I'm sure every little bit helps).
2) bass on my bookshelf speakers (yes, they were set as "small") was a little thin for my taste - I compensated for this by notching up the bass to ~2 o'clock - until I ended up buying a cheap subwoofer (Sony
WX-90 - a little slow and muddy for music, but good enough for me).
3) there's no pre-outs. I didn't have an application for pre-outs before I bought the receiver, but now I do!

Within these limitations, overall I am very happy with the Onkyo. I would've loved the 696, but like many people responding above, I couldn't justify the huge price jump. I'm sure, if I compared the 595 to a $US5000 system, it would sound **** , but ignorance is bliss, because I'll never be able to afford one of those.

In summary...
(a) if I wanted a receiver right now, I'd buy a 595
(b) but if, for some unknown reason, there was miracle and someone was selling a 696 within $US100 of the 595, I'd get that instead
(c) if I was patient, and could wait another year (which I obviously wasn't), I'd sit around for next year's models - when the 595 would hopefully get a lion's share of the 696 features - or Yamaha would've gotten around to putting PLII in their 90W receiver

Hope this is helpful

Similar Products Used:

Sony DB940
Yamaha RX-V620

Excellent power, has all the features expected from a $400 Receiver & then some. Nice quality remote, Pro-Logic II ROCKS, lots of tweaks for the speakers & volume output.
Learning remote & good manual instructions.

Only a few buttons light up on the remote, receiver is not much on looks compared to cheaper receivers like Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer & etc..(I prefer more button & knobs)

Ok, I have not had this 595 very long, but soon as it was all hooked up, I noticed right away that my old Kenwood VR-209 100w x 5 don't come close to the 75w x 5 Onkyo.
This TX-DS595 is a BEAST in a small package at a small price. If you currenty have 100w speakers, then get the 595, cause it will stress my 100w Kenwood 15's. If you demand more power than try the TX-DS696, but be prepared to buy 150+watt speakers.
I must say, I think I am Onkyo 4 life now!

"HIGH CURRENT, EAR PIERCING SOUND"

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR-209

Very clean sound. Even at extremely high volume! DPL2 is a nice plus, makes almost any stereo source (TV, VCR, music) sound even better.

First time setup can be annoying. Backlit remote would have been nice.

Have had this great peice of equipment for about 3 weeks. Though this thing has many DSP modes all you will probably use is DPL II (except the occasional 5 channel stereo ad regular stereo. Sound is very clear with little distortion even at high levels! DPL II is a great extra that will give 5.1 like sound from most stereo sources. One note; DPL II works wonders for video games, I've used DPL II with PS2 games like GT3 and SSX and the sound seems to envelop you (curious what a game like Resident evil would be like!) I experimented and decided to see how it would sound at max volume while watching a DVD. I was amazed at how clear the sound was and it was LOUD. I orignally planned on the Kenwood VR509 but after finding the Onkyo for $369 I found that this receiver has a lot of bang-for-the buck. A couple of things this receiver doesn't have that would have been nice are: pre-outs, component video switching, backlit remote, etc. But you can't expect everything at such a low price. If you need/want these features look for the TXDS696 instead. Also the remote is very nice, I had no problems programming my TV, VCR and cable box with it. The only things I don't like about the remote are no backlight and the 4-way button on the remote is a little sensitive. I easily give this a 5 star rating, especially for the price I paid. Even if you pay retail ($499) for this, I would still give it about 4 stars but right now you can buy the 696 for $549 from Curcuit City!

Similar Products Used:

None. Last receiver was a circa 1995 Pioneer model.

Outstanding headroom with All Channel Stereo mode. Pro Logic II is highly recommended in any reciever purchase and sounds excellent on this unit. The unit itself looks good. I was originally out to buy an H/K Unit but this Onkyo sitting next to it looked so much more professional and subtle.

If you do not have one, you will need to purchase a powered subwoofer to get the full effect of the system and 5.1.

Big unit, I had to remove the glass doors on my entertainment center.

Great unit! Go listen for yourself before you buy. Remember to budget for a subwoofer if you do not already own one.

Very good looking, clean unit. Well assembled and has a durable feeling in the stitches and buttons. Other units look cheap when compaired to this Onkyo.

Remote is fantastic. Too many options to list. Onkyo is very "reserved" in thier power ratings.

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15 y/o Marantz 2 Chan, Carver Holgraphic reciever 2 chan - obviously, modern day surround is an improvement over those 2 old workhorses (but they still work fine!)